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A One-Race Paint Scheme That Will Never Tell The Whole Story.
By Michael Smith
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One-race paint schemes have become a staple at NASCAR events. More often than not, the special paint motif is meant to herald some product or event that a sponsor wants to put in front of the public eye – even if the public eye will only see the paint scheme in glimpses snatched at 180 miles per hour.
For my money, the best one-race paint schemes are those that speak of times past, or special anniversaries. This season, the Wood Brothers Racing Team is running a series of five different paint schemes to commemorate their 50 years in NASCAR racing. Over the course of five races, the #21 CITGO Ford driven by Elliott Sadler will carry color schemes that replicate cars from the Wood Brothers storied past. At Atlanta Motor Speedway this past March, the CITGO Ford carried the same colors it carried back in 1993 when Morgan Shepherd brought the car across the finish line in first place.
Still to come for the CITGO Taurus are four more special paint schemes. At the upcoming 600-mile race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, Elliott Sadler will drive a car bearing the same paint scheme driven by the legendary David Pearson in the 1970s when he clinched 12 straight pole positions and three victories at Charlotte between 1974 and 1979. Then, in July, when NASCAR returns to Daytona, the Wood Brothers car will carry the same colors that Tiny Lund carried on his Wood Brothers Ford Galaxie back in 1963. At Martinsville, the Wood Brothers will commemorate their 50th year in racing with a special paint scheme replicating the convertible that Glen Wood raced back in the 1950s. Finally, on October 15th, the Wood Brothers #21 will roll off the transporter at Talladega wearing the same colors carried by Neil Bonnett when he drove the car to victory in the fall race of 1989.
These one-race paint schemes should really be of interest to NASCAR fans across the nation because they remind us, in a subtle way, where NASCAR has been. The Wood Brothers special paint schemes track the timeline of 50 years worth of hard work, victories won and lost, and storybook finishes. Perhaps the best example is the paint scheme that will be run at Daytona on July 1st. The Wood Brothers will return to Daytona in July with a Ford Taurus that duplicates the paint scheme carried in 1963 when Tiny Lund won the Daytona 500 in storybook fashion. You see Marvin Panch, not Tiny Lund, was the driver for the Wood Brothers when they rolled into Daytona for Speedweeks in 1963.
Marvin Panch had some twenty years of racing experience when he joined the Wood Brothers team in 1962. During the ’62 season, Panch ran 14 races for Glen and Leonard Wood and, though he didn’t post a victory that year, his obvious skills behind the wheel impressed the Wood Brothers because they kept him on for the 1963 season.
At the 1963 running of the Daytona 500, Panch qualified the Wood Brothers Galaxie with little fanfare. With several days of Speedweeks still remaining, what else was there to do but drive fast cars? The Briggs Cunningham Masarati team was at Daytona experimenting with Grand National engines and, when they asked Panch if he would take some hot laps in their car, he eagerly accepted. The car did not feel right from the start, and following a stop for fuel and a few adjustments to the car, Panch went back out onto the track. Panch opened the Masarati up, eager to collect a $10,000 prize offered by Bill France to the first driver to break the 180 mile per hour mark, and according to Panch, he almost made the mark when the Masarati went airborne, came down on its side and rolled upside down before coming to a stop near the tunnel turn.
Because of the Masarati’s design, Panch was trapped in the burning wreckage and the first fire crews on the scene apparently didn’t understand his shouted instructions to aim their extinguishers at the burning engine compartment. Their confusion nearly cost Panch his life and would have were it not for a giant of a man called “Tiny” Lund.
DeWayne Lund, all 6 feet, 6 inches of him, hailed from Iowa. In a bow to his huge stature, he had been nicknamed “Tiny.” In 1963, Lund was at Daytona International Speedway without a steady ride and as the flaming wreckage of Panch’s Masarati came to a skidding halt, he was entering the track through the tunnel along with a group of men, including a Firestone Tire engineer. The group of five leapt a fence, ran to the mangled, burning sports car and attempted to lift the car enough to let Panch escape. At the same time, Panch kicked the door out and was halfway free when the fuel tank erupted. Panch’s would-be-rescuers dropped the car and stepped back, then one shouted that Panch was still trapped and kicking. The men stepped back into the fight and lifted the car again, burning themselves in the process. With the car again lifted, Tiny Lund grabbed Panch by the ankles and dragged him free of the fiery wreckage.
Marvin Panch was taken to a nearby hospital where his burns were found to be not life threatening. In a hospital bed conference with Glen and Leonard Wood, it was decided to offer the Wood Brothers ride to Tiny Lund, the man who contributed so much to saving Panch’s life. Naturally, being without a ride, Lund accepted.
In true storybook fashion, Tiny Lund went on to win the 1963 Daytona 500 in the car he “borrowed” from the Wood Brothers – though arguably, through his heroic action, he earned the ride fair and square. The fact that the Daytona 500 marked Lund’s first career victory was just more icing on the cake. Add to all this the fact that Lund reportedly ran out of gas as he crossed the finish line and the story has all the makings of a Hollywood thriller. Finally, as if this weren’t all just too much, DeWayne Lund would eventually be awarded the Carnegie Medal for Heroism for helping to save Panch’s life.
Marvin Panch would recover and continued to drive racecars – and win races - for the Wood Brothers Racing Team through the 1966 season. Driving for other teams, Tiny Lund would go on to score four more official NASCAR wins before he lost his life tragically in 1975 while running in the Talladega 500. For those who knew him, and for those who care to keep track of such things, Tiny Lund was truly a giant of a man, both in stature and in heart and soul.
When the green flag drops at Daytona this July 1st, there will be a car on the track that honors not only the 50th anniversary of the Wood Brothers Racing Team, but the bravery of men like Marvin Panch and Tiny Lund and also the fact that, in NASCAR anything is possible.
Next Time: The Full Story of the Wood Brothers 50th Anniversary in NASCAR
copyright 2000, Michael Smith
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